Arthur Harris

Arthur "Bomber" Harris (13 April 1892-5 April 1984) was Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the RAF Bomber Command from 1942 to 1945 during World War II.

Biography
Arthur Harris was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England in 1892. He joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1915, after having fought as a soldier in German South-West Africa during World War I. He rose through the service to become Commander of 5 Group (RAF Bomber Command) in 1939, until 1942 when he became its head. In this post, he consistently advocated the value of area bombing, believing that the total destruction of Germany would force the surviving Germans to surrender without the necessity of a full-scale invasion. Although this strategy received the support of Winston Churchill, it remained controversial. It has since shown that the bombing of selected targets such as transport systems, industrial installations, and oil refineries proved far more effective in hindering the German war effort. He was also criticized over his role in the bombing of Dresden in February 1945, in which 100,000 civilians were killed and a city with a rare historical heritage was flattened. After the war, he moved to South Africa, where he managed the South African Marine Corporation.